Life and Death
by Inncai
Summary: Returning to Inaba after a year, Souji begings another adventure, this time aided by the one who held Death.


I don't own Persona 3 or 4. This goes without saying, but this story will contain spoilers for both games.

This is my first time writing for this many characters before, so I'm sorry if anyone's OOC.

* * *

When Life Meets Death

He was going home.

Well, not home exactly. This place, Inaba, had been his home while his parents worked overseas, but as far as Souji Seta was concerned, it _was_ home. The connections he had forged and the adventures he had...it had been a life changing experience. But most importantly, he was going to see his friends again. They had been sending letters back and forward, but it wasn't the same as talking in person.

Souji returned his gaze from the speeding landscape passing by the window to the picture nestled in his right hand. The picture was worn from being taken out so many times, and within it, depicted eight people. The friends he had made during his stay in Inaba. Looking back on those memories always brought a smile to Souji's face.

The train lurched to a stop. It wasn't his, so Souji didn't have to worry. People moved on and off the train to their destinations. It was becoming cramped, and it was slightly unnerving to have his personal space invaded but there wasn't much he could do about it.

Since it would be awhile before his stop, Souji figured that it would be a good idea to take a quick nap. He had been so excited to go back to Inaba he didn't get much sleep.

Glancing at the picture one more time, Souji leaned against the window and shut his eyes.

_And drifted off into a dream._

* * *

_A loud 'Ping!' noise startled Souji and his eyes snapped open, and widened when he saw that he was no longer in the train, but an elevator. The noise had come from it and the door was wide open. Apparently he had arrived at his stop._

_Souji stepped off the elevator and into an empty hall with doors on each side. "Where am I?" He wondered. His feet seemed to know and they walked him down the hall. Passing by each door, Souji noticed that they had been chained shut, with Roman numerals carved into the center, from zero to twenty-one._

_Finally, Souji stopped by the last door at the other end of the hall. However, unlike the plain wooden doors, this one was the familiar blue colour door of the Velvet Room (it even had the words printed in large letters above it)._

_Souji was about to open the door when the sudden feeling to knock first came to mind._

_Knock, knock, knock!_

_And instead of Igor's raspy voice answering, came a younger, yet tired voice._

"_You can come in, it's open."_

_The silver-haired teen hesitated before turning the knob and entering._

_The Velvet Room had changed. It was a large room now, with the usual blue coloring. Pictures of people with the faces blotted out hug all over the walls, except the one in the back since it was just a large window, blue curtains covering so much that only a strip of light showed through._

_In the center of the room was a large table with a velvet covering and a stack of Tarot Cards on the right side, along with a music player and headphones. A chair was seated in front of said table, for him, and one behind, currently in use by the person who had spoken before._

_A teenage boy, about an year younger than Souji, with blue hair, tired and emotionless grey eyes, and deadly pale skin. He was dressed similar to Igor, except the outfit somewhat resembled a school uniform. Since Souji was still standing, he could see the teen had his hands in his pockets, and for some reason it fit._

"_Welcome to the Velvet Room."_

_Souji bowed before taking a seat. The blue haired teen immediately locked eyes with him and that blank gaze felt like..._

_**DEATH!**_

_He blinked. "Where had that come from?" It was quiet a leap to connect death with a human being. Souji turned away from this thought and asked what he really wanted to know._

"_Where's Igor?"_

_The question earned him a ghost of a smile. "Igor is way on business, so he left me in charge for awhile. My name is Minato Arisato." _

"_Souji Seta." He extended a hand to Minato, who took it. Souji noticed, now that the hand was out in the open, that Minato was wearing a bracelet with what appeared to be coffins as the charms interlocked with the chains._

_Minato leaned back into the chair and picked up the deck of cards. "Igor told your fortune when you first came here, right?" Souji nodded in affirmation, so the current Master continued. "You will be embarking on one last trip, so I will give you your fortune for this time."_

_He placed nine cards on the table and placed the deck down before flipping one card over._

"_The Fool, a new start. Makes sense, but will you be walking off that cliff...?" Minato's 'question' hung in the air for awhile before turning over the next card._

"_The reversed Hanged Man. A failure_ _to act with an inability to move forward or progress. It'll play out, for good or bad." He turned over the final card, and the room suddenly became a lot colder. _

"_Death."_

_No one said anything after until Souji broke the silence. "Because of choices I make, people might...die?" To be the one to shoulder that sort of choice...but Minato shook his head in disagreement. "Death isn't the end, just a change. Something will change again. For better or worse."_

_Souji thought about these words while Minato placed the cards back into the deck. A thought popped into his head._

"_Minato, what are the other doors for?" The 'ghost smile' was a little bit slyer. "I don't know, but I like to think everything." Well...that was odd. Minato seemed to have inherited Igor's habit of cryptic wording._

'_Ping!'_

_Both of them jumped at the sound and Minato sighed...regretfully? He did look lonely._

"_I guess it's time for you to go. But first..." The blue haired teen slid a key across the table, which Souji pocketed. "It'll allow you to get in this room without taking the elevator again. I'll be seeing you soon, but you'll come to me, Souji."_

_He nodded and stood up to leave. "I'll see you later then, Minato." Ghost smile again? It was like he didn't have much to smile about. _

_Souji opened the door and stepped out, but as he was walking away, he could catch a few strands of music that didn't belong to the Velvet Room._

**"_I will burn my dread...burn my dread..."_**

* * *

"Final stop, Inaba Station....final stop, Inaba Station..."

Those words pulled Souji out of his sleep the rest of the way, and he rubbed his eyes. People stepped on and off the train, going to where ever they were going...

But he knew where he was going.

Souji smiled and retrieved his bag from the shelf above his seat, and exited the train. With the now-fading dream proving that something was going to happen again, he walked towards the place he had called home.

And unnoticed and unheard, a small blue butterfly followed in the shadows.


End file.
